A. Field of the Invention
The field of the present invention relates generally to racks for storing, moving and displaying rolled materials, such as carpet, carpet remnants and carpet pad. More particularly, the present invention relates to such racks which are suitable for storing, moving and displaying rolled flooring materials in either a vertical or horizontal position. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to such racks that are configured to be used with a stinger-type apparatuses commonly used to move rolls of carpet and other flooring materials.
B. Background
Many flooring materials are sold, stored, moved and displayed in elongated rolls of such materials. For instance, as is well known in the carpet and related industries, it is very common to sell, store, move and display carpet and carpet related materials, including carpet, carpet remnants and carpet pad, in an elongated roll of the material. Also included in the general category of flooring materials are other forms of floor coverings, such as linoleum, vinyl flooring and the like that are also supplied in elongated rolls of the material. For purposes of this disclosure, the term flooring materials refers to all such materials.
Flooring materials are typically delivered by the manufacturer to the flooring wholesaler or retailer in the form of large elongated rolls. After the rolls are received by the wholesaler or retailer, they are moved into storage or into a showroom for display. Naturally, it is preferred to display the materials in a way that most beneficially allows the purchaser to review the materials so that they may consider which materials to purchase. After the flooring material buyer selects the type and amount of flooring material they desire, the flooring material is delivered to the buyer and installed in the buyers preferred location, such as a house or office. As is well known in the industry, it is often necessary to move the rolls of flooring materials from one location to another before the materials are purchased, depending on the need to make room for other materials, deliver materials to a purchaser or place the materials in a different location for purposes of better displaying that material.
With regard to the purchase of flooring materials by a buyer, the typical buyer does not purchase an entire roll or, if buying multiple rolls, full rolls of the flooring material. As a result some of the flooring material on a roll is usually left behind to be sold by the wholesaler or retailer. The left behind materials are commonly referred to as remnants. Naturally, the wholesaler or retailer desires to sell these remnants so as to fully maximize his or her profit on the flooring materials. In order to do so, it is necessary to selectively display the remnants in a manner that best shows potential purchasers what remnants are available and the quantity of remnant that is available.
Generally, rolls of flooring material are of such size and weight that they require the use of powered machines to safely and effectively move one or more rolls of the material. The typical powered machine is a forklift having one or more prongs suitable for lifting a pallet with rolls of flooring material securely placed thereon. Although the prongs on the forklift can be used to directly lift one or more rolls of flooring material, this method of moving flooring material rolls is not generally used because of the high risk of damaging the flooring material. Instead, because the rolls of flooring materials delivered by the manufacturer are configured with an internal longitudinal bore, many wholesalers and retailers utilize an outwardly extending stinger attachment that is configured to be attached to the forklift in place of the prongs and to be received by the longitudinal bore. Like the prongs it replaces, the stinger moves up and down the face of the forklift. In this manner, rolls of flooring material, including the remnants, are relocated by inserting the stinger into the longitudinal bore, raising the stinger as necessary, moving the roll of material to the desired location, lowering the stinger/roll as necessary and withdrawing the stinger from the roll.
Unfortunately, not all flooring materials are provided in rolls having a longitudinal bore therethrough. For instance, rolls of carpet pad generally do not have an internal bore and, therefore, cannot be moved with the stinger attached to the forklift. In addition, other flooring related materials or other materials and equipment in the wholesaler's or retailer's storage facility, store or other place of business are stored on pallets configured for the prongs of the forklift or otherwise either require or are more easily handled by the prongs of the forklift instead of the stinger attachment. As such, it is necessary to switch between the prong and stinger attachment on the forklift. The process of switching between the forklift prongs and the stinger attachment is time consuming and can be relatively difficult, in part due to the 250 to 350 pound weight of the stinger, depending on the type of forklift, prongs and stinger utilized. Although it would be possible to have two or more forklifts, at least one with a stinger and at least one with prongs, most flooring materials businesses do not have more than one forklift (due primarily to the cost of forklifts).
Racks for beneficially displaying rolls of flooring material have been in use for some time. One such rack is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,017 to Ovitz, III, et al., which discloses a carpet rack having a frame for receiving multiple spindle assemblies, each of which are configured to horizontally support a roll of carpet thereon. Although the rack is shown with wheel assemblies, the rack does not include any mechanism to move the rack with a forklift. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,004,701 and 3,951,276, both to Moses, a storing and handling apparatus and system for rolls of floor covering is disclosed. In conjunction with a storage and dispensing rack, the Moses patents disclose the use of a pallet having box members spaced apart a distance which corresponds to the prongs of a conventional forklift. Other racks or storage devices are known to include an assembly suitable for receiving and moving the rack or device with the prongs of a forklift.
Nothing in the prior art presently known to the inventor discloses or suggests the use of a stinger attachment to move a storage and display rack adapted for storing and displaying flooring materials in either a vertical or horizontal manner. In fact, to the best of the inventor's present knowledge, the stinger attachment is only utilized to move individual rolls of flooring materials, not racks having one or more rolls of such material and not for materials, such as carpet pads, that do not have a longitudinal bore for receiving the stinger. As a result, a significant amount of time and effort is wasted changing between the prongs of the forklift and the stinger attachment. Therefore, what is needed is a moveable storage and display rack that is configured to be moved with a stinger attachment and which is suitable for storing and displaying flooring materials in either a horizontal or vertical arrangement. The preferred rack should be relatively inexpensive to make, easy to use and adaptable to current forklift equipment. Preferably, such a rack should additionally include a mechanism to connect to the forklift prongs, a mechanism to secure the flooring materials to the rack and a mechanism to guide the rack when moving it without lifting.